Food Bag Assembly

ABSTRACT

A food bag assembly for providing a serving surface includes a bag that may contain a food item. The bag has a pouch section a flap that closes the pouch section. The flap defines a serving surface when the flap is opened. Thus, the serving surface supports the food item thereby facilitating the food item to be consumed.

(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIE THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM.

Not Applicable

(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The disclosure and prior art relates to bag devices and more particularly pertains to a new bag device for providing a serving surface.

(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a bag that may contain a food item. The bag has a pouch section a flap that closes the pouch section. The flap defines a serving surface when the flap is opened. Thus, the serving surface supports the food item thereby facilitating the food item to be consumed.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a food bag assembly in an open position according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure in a closed position.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a right side view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new bag device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the food bag assembly 10 generally comprises a bag 12 that may contain a food item 14. The bag 12 has a pouch section 16 a flap 18 closing the pouch section 16. The flap 18 defines a serving surface 20 when the flap 18 is opened. Thus, the serving surface 20 supports the food item 14 thereby facilitating the food item 14 to be consumed. The food item 14 may comprise potato chips or the like.

The pouch section 16 has a bottom wall 22, a top wall 24, a front side 26 and a back side 28. The front side 26 is open into an interior of the pouch section 16. The bottom wall 22 extends beyond the front side 26 to define the flap 18. The flap 18 has a distal edge 30 with respect to the front side 26.

The flap 18 is folded over onto the top wall 24 of the pouch section 16. Thus, the flap 18 closes the pouch section 16. The distal edge 30 of the flap 18 is sealed on the top wall 24. Thus, the flap 18 retains the food item 14 in the bag 12. The flap 18 may have a length that is equal to a length of the top wall 24 of the pouch section 16.

The flap 18 may be sealed to the top wall 24 with an adhesive or the like. The bag 12 may have a perforation that defines the flap 18 when the perforation is torn. The distal edge 30 of the flap 18 is selectively removed from the pouch section 16. The flap 18 is manipulated to extend away from the pouch section 16. Thus, the flap 18 defines the serving surface 20.

In an alternative embodiment 32 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, back side 28 of the pouch section 16 may have a crease 34. The flap 18 may have a length that is less than a length of the top wall 24 of the pouch section 16. The distal edge 30 of the flap 18 is selectively removed from the pouch section 16. Thus, the pouch section 16 forms a bowl 36 for containing the food item 14.

In use, the bag 12 is laid on a support surface having the bottom wall 22 of the pouch section 16 lying on the support surface. The distal edge 30 of the flap 18 is removed from the pouch section 16. The flap 18 is manipulated to extend away from the front side 26 of the pouch section 16. The flap 18 lies on the support surface to define the serving surface 20. The food item 14 is urged outwardly from the front side 26 of the pouch section 16 to lie on the serving surface 20. Thus, the food item 14 is removed from the serving surface 20 to be consumed.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

Amendments in the claims: (struck-through parts deleted and underlined parts added):
 1. A food bag assembly selectively forming a serving surface when said food bag is opened, said assembly comprising: a bag being configured to contain a food item, said bag having a pouch section a flap closing said pouch section, said flap defining a serving surface when said flap is opened wherein said serving surface is configured to support the food item thereby facilitating the food item to be consumed, said pouch section has a bottom wall, a top wall, a front side and a back side, said front side being open into an interior of said pouch section, said bottom wall extending beyond said front side to define said flap, said flap having a distal edge with respect to said front side, said distal edge having opposed angled end sections wherein a medial portion of said distal edge is inset from lateral side edges of said pouch section, each of said opposed angled end sections of said distal edge extending between said medial portion of said distal edge and an associated one of said lateral side edges of said pouch section.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said flap being folded over onto said top wall of said pouch section such that said flap closes said pouch section, said distal edge of said flap being sealed on said top wall wherein said flap is configured to retain the food item in said bag.
 4. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said distal edge of said flap is selectively removed from said pouch section having said flap extending away from said pouch section such that said flap defines said serving surface.
 5. A food bag assembly selectively forming a serving surface when said food bag is opened, said assembly comprising: a bag being configured to contain a food item, said bag having a pouch section a flap closing said pouch section, said flap defining a serving surface when said flap is opened wherein said serving surface is configured to support the food item thereby facilitating the food item to be consumed, said pouch section having a bottom wall, a top wall, a front side and a back side, said front side being open into an interior of said pouch section, said bottom wall extending beyond said front side to define said flap, said flap having a distal edge with respect to said front side, said distal edge having opposed angled end sections wherein a medial portion of said distal edge is inset from lateral side edges of said pouch section, each of said opposed angled end sections of said distal edge extending between said medial portion of said distal edge and an associated one of said lateral side edges of said pouch section, said flap being folded over onto said top wall of said pouch section such that said flap closes said pouch section, said distal edge of said flap being sealed on said top wall wherein said flap is configured to retain the food item in said bag, said distal edge of said flap being selectively removed from said pouch section having said flap extending away from said pouch section such that said flap defines said serving surface. 